We came across a news item concerning eleven cities most likely to run out of drinking water, as Cape Town, South Africa appears to be. We had previously heard that San Francisco has renewable water supplies for one million people, but a population eighteen times that size.

San Francisco may have its ducks in a row with borrowed water. However, The BBC reports Sao Paulo, Bangalore, Beijing, Cairo, Jakarta, Moscow, Istanbul,  Mexico City, London, Tokyo, and Miami do not, in that order. Is this to do with climate change? Could this happen to us in Calgary too?

It’s Not Impossible, Says Researcher John Pomeroy.

When CBC News wanted to interview John, they may have had to climb a metal observation tower to where he keeps his equipment. “Things are changing here,” he told them. “We are getting rain events even in the winter.”

For John, the Rocky Mountains are a giant snow reservoir that supplies drinking and irrigation water to vast tracts of lowland. “The water from this mountain range flows into the Arctic Ocean and the Pacific and the Atlantic,” he explains, “so what happens here matters for the whole continent.”

He fears the warming climate is melting Rocky Mountain snow earlier. By the end of summer, the flow is exhausted. This could lead to seasonal water shortages. Moreover, glaciers previously held in reserve are beginning to disappear.

Tom Romanov, director of the Milk River Watershed Council is worried that nobody is preparing for a three-to-five year drought of the magnitude that struck Cape Town. He is worried we face another dry summer.

A Sober Lesson for Calgary from Cape Town?

Visit Cape Town and the residents will tell you how much they regret not doing more about saving precious water when they could. While scientists warned, their winter rainwater drained down mountain slopes unimpeded into the ocean. In South Africa, many homeowners are leading rainwater from gutters into large water tanks. Perhaps it is time we became more water conscious in Calgary too.

At Valiant Exteriors, We Believe Every Bit Helps

We have begun supplying heavy-duty water barrels to clients when we replace or alter eavestroughing. These have the dual purpose of harvesting free water for jobs around the house, and of reducing rainwater run-off that erodes our topsoil. Speak to Valiant Exteriors about harvesting rainwater because we care about managing scarce resources. Please call 403 829 1661 during business hours, or leave a message now.